Comments on: Tips To Reduce Air Conditioner Usage

By: mj

mj — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:52:04 +0000

i recently saw an episode of “living with ed” on the green channel in which they used an attatchment to the outside unit that actually puts out a mist to cool the coils BEFORE it goes into the house… the premise being that if the coils are cooler, it takes less energy for the temperatue variance to reach a cooling point. theoritically, it can save up to 30% on cooling costs & in florida, that’s significant. but i haven’t had any luck tacking one down. has anyone heard of this?

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:33:04 +0000

Another thing you could do is get yourself a window AC unit and install it in the room you use most often. Only cool that one room instead of your entire house; saves lots of money. My wife and I install one in our bedroom for those nights when it is too hot to sleep, otherwise we try to keep the whole house AC off if possible.

By: Sunday’s Gratitudes | Oh My Aching Debts

Sunday’s Gratitudes | Oh My Aching Debts — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 10:01:54 +0000

[...] This Life has tips to keep your air conditioning bill lower. I have this one beat — No a/c but she has some good tips to remember as the weather starts [...]

By: Weekly Roundup: Economic Stimulus - Early Payments Edition | Frugal Dad

Weekly Roundup: Economic Stimulus - Early Payments Edition | Frugal Dad — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 11:02:20 +0000

[...] Tips to Reduce Air Conditioner Usage. With temperatures rising, so are energy bills. This article has some great tips for reducing energy use by the number one power hog in the summer – your air conditioning system. @Remodeling this Life [...]

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:25:59 +0000

I guess I am a little bit loony living here in Florida and not running our A/C all year round. We haven’t run it in months and it is completely comfortable. I guess maybe I’m just used to it. And I HATE being cold inside. Thanks for the input, everyone!

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:27:17 +0000

In Florida, especially here in the SW, we use our a/c nearly all year it seems. We keep it set at 78 degrees and use fans at night to help keep cool enough. A nice swim in the evening helps cool us off as well. When we have had to deal with hurricanes, getting soaked and standing in front of a fan does wonders too.

The only other tip I can think of is to change your a/c filters on a regular basis.

By: daniel@youngandfrugal

daniel@youngandfrugal — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:02:21 +0000

Great post, with very creative ideas!

While I definitely agree with not fiddling with the thermostat, I would recommend making sure you have a programable thermostat. Let it automatically cool down at night and stay warmer in the day. Then you don’t even have to think about it!

When my wife and I leave for work our thermostat is set to let the house get warmer/cooler (season pending) and it stays that way until about 9 pm when we are ready for bed when it does the opposite.

@ Bethisway…I LOVE sleeping in the cold! It’s the most amazing thing ever.

By: BeThisWay

BeThisWay — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:20:36 +0000

I got very excited when I saw the title of this post. I’d looooove to reduce our AC costs. And these are really great tips.

Unfortunately Husband would shrivel up and die without the AC. It is on 24/7/360 (there were perhaps 5 AC-less days this year) in our South Florida home, and we compromise at a setting of 74 degrees when he is home. Yes, 74. Before we got married he kept his on 68.

Apparently I’ve married a polar bear.

When he leaves I put it up to 77 (FPL tells me three degrees variation is best not to have to make the AC work too hard to cool it back down), and I put it down a degree to 76 awhile before he arrives home from work. If I’m lucky it will be 8 or 9 pm before he puts it back down to 74.

So, I bundle up a lot in the evenings. But I have to admit I’ve always loved to sleep in a chilly room.

This is why we are so far from green.

By: aimee

aimee — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:03:11 +0000

what a woman! there is NO way I could sleep at night (especially in FL!) w/o the air on! I try really hard to keep our set and leave it alone. it does go cooler at night. luckily our house is pretty shaded under some trees and we put in new windows a few years ago and that has really helped too. i also try not to bake as much in the summer as our kitchen is the furthest away from the AC unit and also gets afternoon sun. If only we had a pool that would solve all my heat problems. I would jus sit in it all summer. Does a dehumidifier really help? I never thought about that.